Is Rich rich enough? Late last week, the rumor surfaced online that Richard Connor – CEO of MaineToday Media, owner of the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel dailies – is involved with one of the groups trying to buy the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.

Ignore what I said before: Richard Connor can’t seem to get his apologies straight. On Sept. 19, Connor, the CEO of MaineToday Media and the editor and publisher of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, ran yet another front-page attempt at explaining his papers’ editorial policies and procedures. His latest explanation attempts to convey a more succinct and enlightened view than the previous attempt, but still falls short.

Goob boobery: If you’re depending on the Maine media to help you figure out who to vote for in the governor’s race in November, you’re in trouble. While a couple of reporters are doing quality work, including Kevin Miller of the Bangor Daily News and A.J.

Patriot Day protest: There were some ugly online comments following a Sept. 11 story in the Portland Press Herald about the local Muslim community celebrating Eid al Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

“’Why’ (sic) is this deemed newsworthy?” asked somebody identified as DTOM. “How much do the people attending this event know about the Christian religion?”

Duncan jumps in: The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel have a new guy in charge of their political coverage. MaineToday media CEO Richard Connor has hired Dale Duncan, former publisher of the Indianapolis Star, to coordinate all election stories at the three papers through the end of the year. Duncan started work on Sept. 8.

The Lewiston Sun Journal ended its drought of State House coverage by hiring Steve Mistler to fill the government and politics beat. The Lewiston paper had been without a reporter in Augusta since July, when Rebekah Metzler jumped to the rival Kennebec Journal.

Old news from Eliot’s enemies: A new Web site called “The Secret File on Eliot Cutler” is anything but secret. Word of its existence spread across the Maine political scene this week with unusual haste. Within hours of it going live, I got e-mails alerting me to the site from a conservative Republican, two liberals (one a Democrat, the other a Green) and a middle-of-the-road independent.

The rich get different treatment: On August 11, the New York Times published a lengthy article on Millicent Monks’ new book, Songs of Three Islands, and its painful details about her prominent family’s history of mental illness.

Fine line: Dan Billings writes a monthly column for the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal, two papers owned by MaineToday Media.

Behind the numbers: The Bangor Daily News’ Kevin Miller did a first-rate job of separating fact from fiction in his August 21 story on Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage’s impact on Waterville’s finances during his tenure as that city’s mayor (“Candidate Paul LePage: the Wizard of Waterville”).